Sunday, 13 March 2011

Books Received | The BoSS for 13/03/11

Met the old BoSS? Well, let me introduce you to the new BoSS -- same as the old BoSS, more or less... except less is more. That's my story and I'm sticking to it!

All caught up? Good. Let's get on with it, then.

Now I don't know how it happened. I went off to Skye for a week, came back, and even after than brief hiatus, somehow I was still managing to keep on top of all the books that had arrived for inspection in my absence. Yet since then, the review copies just haven't stopped. I don't have the time just now, but I think I'll have to put together two editions of The BoSS next week to run through all this bookish goodness -- and even then...

Not that being so utterly spoilt for choice is a thing to complain about. :)

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Loss of Separationby Conrad Williams

Vital Statistics

Published in the UKon 03/03/11by Solaris

Review Priority

5 (A Sure Thing)

The Blurb: Commercial pilot Paul Roan is in command of a Boeing 777 when it is involved in a near miss. Nerves shot, he resigns and re-launches his life running a small hotel in a coastal village with his girlfriend, Tamara.

On the day they move to their new home, Paul is hit by a speeding car. Emerging six months later from a coma, he discovers that Tamara has left him, and the villagers, astonished by his cheating of death, now see him as a talisman. They bring him secrets too awful to deal with themselves. He burns the things they bring him, wishing he could rid himself of his own darkness. He is suffering from terrible dreams of a crippled black airliner screaming through the night, its pitted engines streaked with carbon and blood. He knows that, somehow, this jet – and its terrible cargo – is coming for him.

A Scotsman's Thoughts: So we'll start this week's BoSS with a bang. Or rather a crash; a car crash, following hot on the heels of a potential aircraft disaster. Loss of Separation was one of the books I took on holiday with me, you might recall, and as hungry for horror as I become after going a few months without - and the dead time between good books can last a long time in this particular genre - it was the first I sunk my teeth into. I found myself rather reminded of Duma Key -- my favourite Stephen King novel of the last decade, and then some.

But let's save all that jazz for the full review, which should be ready to go... later this very week, I would wager.

Among Others

by Jo Walton

Vital Statistics

Published in the US

on 22/02/11

by Tor

Review Priority

3 (We'll See)

The Blurb: Raised by a half-mad mother who dabbled in magic, Morwenna Phelps found refuge in two worlds. As a child growing up in Wales, she played among the spirits who made their homes in industrial ruins. But her mind found freedom and promise in the science fiction novels that were her closest companions. Then her mother tried to bend the spirits to dark ends, and Mori was forced to confront her in a magical battle that left her crippled -- and her twin sister dead.

Fleeing to her father whom she barely knew, Mori was sent to boarding school in England –- a place all but devoid of true magic. There, outcast and alone, she tempted fate by doing magic herself, in an attempt to find a circle of like-minded friends. But her magic also drew the attention of her mother, bringing about a reckoning that could no longer be put off...

A Scotsman's Thoughts: This just sounds so gosh-darned lovely, I can't imagine I'll be able to resist its siren song for long. I've never read Jo Walton before - perhaps this is her first novel? - but Among Others, from what I've read and all I've heard, looks to be the exact sort of short, sweet story I like to punctuate consecutive bricks with.

Equations of Life

by Simon Morden

Vital Statistics

Published in the UK

on 07/04/11

by Orbit

Review Priority

5 (A Sure Thing)

The Blurb: Samuil Petrovitch is a survivor. He survived the nuclear fallout in St. Petersburg and hid in the London Metrozone - the last city in England. He's lived this long because he's a man of rules and logic. For example: GETTING INVOLVED = A BAD IDEA.

But when he stumbles into a kidnapping in progress, he acts without even thinking. Before he can stop himself, he's saved the daughter of the most dangerous man in London.

And clearly: SAVING THE GIRL = GETTING INVOLVED.

Now, the equation of Petrovitch's life is looking increasingly complex:

But Petrovitch has a plan - he always has a plan - he's just not sure it's a good one.

A Scotsman's Thoughts: See how behind I am? Here's another book I've managed to finish before I've written it up for The BoSS. Two in one week, by gum!

Anyway. The finishing touches are currently being put to the review of Equations of Life you'll hopefully see on TSS later in just a few short days. It's the first in the Metrozone trilogy, all of which have are sporting eye-boggling optical illusions rather than cover art; it's pulse-pounding action sci-fi from a bona fide rocket scientist; and it's actually rather good, don't you know. For fans of Richard Morgan's Black Man, and Charles Stross' Laundry series.

Oh, and Crank. Yes, Crank the film. What, as opposed to Crank the renowned opera? :P

Shadowmarch

by Tad Williams

Vital Statistics

Published in the UK

on 02/03/06

by Orbit

Review Priority

4 (Pretty Bloody Likely)

The Blurb: At the uppermost edge of the northern kingdoms, towers shrouded in mist, lies Southmarch Castle. For hundreds of years it has remained hidden from the affairs of empire. Now its isolation can protect it no more. Southmarch is under siege; from both its neighbours, without, and the more insidious enemies who would destroy it from within. Even further to the north, within the ancient walls of Qul-na-Qar, in a land of silence and gloom, the Twilight People gather to hear Ynnir, the blind king, pronounce the dark fate of human kind. In the south, the Autarch, the god-king who has already conquered an entire continent, now looks to extend his domain once more. It is upon Southmarch that the armies advance, and to its people that darkness will speed.

A Scotsman's Thoughts: The eagle-eyed amongst you might recall that I received the concluding volume of the Shadowmarch saga a month or so ago, lamenting in that week's edition of The BoSS that I hadn't read any of all that had come before.

Well. Since then, I've gotten copies of all three of the previous books in the series. Three thousand-odd pages of quality fantasy lie before me, and if that prospect is a little intimidating, my excitement at having the whole sprawling thing right there, ready for my attention whenever I feel the need, is a great deal more moving than a touch of the old epic fantasy-phobia.

What Wolves Know

by Kit Reed

Vital Statistics

Published in the UKon 01/04/11by PS Publishing

Review Priority

3 (We'll See)

The Blurb: The newest short story collection from "one of our brightest cultural commentators," What Wolves Know, is available for pre-order now from PS Publishing. The New York Times Book Review had the following to say about Kit Reed's short fiction: "Most of these stories shine with the incisive edginess of brilliant cartoons... they are less fantastic than visionary."

A Scotsman's Thoughts: Another superb-sounding collection from the good souls at PS Publishing. Though I hadn't read any Kit Reed before a PDF of What Wolves Know yipped at me from my inbox, with this and Cat Valente's Ventriloquism to dip in and out of now, at my leisure, there should be good times ahead, and plenty of fodder for further Short Fiction Corners, as and when. In fact I've already treated myself to one tale from the bunch - the titular tale - and it was as worthy a candidate as they come.

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That's it for this week. But never fear: the nearly-new and probably only moderately improved BoSS will be back at the same bat-time next week, in the same bat-place. See you then!

Between Shadowmarch and certain other hush-hush arrivals, I have my reading week pretty much set out already. Perhaps I'm kidding myself, but the plan is to start in on the Tad Williams sooner rather than later, because what with all the big releases on the up - and believe you me: they are - I don't know when next I'll have the chance.

There's that, and then, but of course, I'll dig into {redacted} -- a tremendously exciting prospect, as you can imagine! :)

Contact Details

TSS will gladly accept books, screeners and early builds for potential articles on the blog. Coverage of some sort is likely but not guaranteed. For more information or to request my postal address, email me via this link.